After Epic Battle, Real-Life ‘Hobbit House’ is Saved from Demolition

A young couple can keep their unique home and continue to live off the shire – er, land – in the rolling Welsh countryside.

Charlie Hague and Megan Williams built their eco-home in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with their own hands, using only natural, local materials. Hague, who is a carpenter and sculptor, said they designed the turf-roofed house to live a self-sufficient lifestyle with their 3-year-old son, Eli.

But because the family failed to apply for planning permission before building, authorities ordered the home to be bull-dozed.

After a 3-year-long legal battle and online campaign, the couple finally won an appeal to keep their home, after meeting special government guidelines for affordable and sustainability living.

The nickname “Hobbit House” developed without any official relation to the Tolkien characters, but looks like it could easily belong to a group of halflings from Lord of the Rings.

The couple was able to win approval based on the One Planet Development rules for people in the UK who want to live and work on their own land, while benefiting the local economy and environment. With Hague’s woodworking business, income generated from renewable energy on site, and sales of fruit from the property, they qualified.

“We are delighted. We are very happy and very excited we can carry on doing what we want to achieve living on the land,” Williams told The Guardian.